The election is over and we know who our president and members of Congress are going to be. Let’s take a few minutes and look at some of the other winners and losers in Georgia politics.

Winner: Gov. Nathan Deal.

After he took a beating on the T-SPLOST transportation tax, the governor recovered to lead the charge on the charter school constitutional amendment, approved by more than 58 percent of the state’s voters.

Veterans Day, 2012, is an opportunity to once again recognize the significant contributions of the millions of our citizens whose military service has had a profound effect on history. It is an opportunity to remember all the freedoms we, the people of this great nation, are fortunate enough to enjoy.

It is an opportunity to thank those who have answered the call of duty to protect those freedoms, to honor them and show our gratitude for their sacrifices.

Regardless of how the presidential race between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney plays out, Georgia Republicans should have something significant to celebrate the day after the election.

Just eight years after the GOP took control of the General Assembly in the 2004 elections, they are poised to win more than two-thirds control of both legislative chambers (that’s 120 seats in the House of Representatives and 38 in the Senate).

Halloween has passed, but you might need to be afraid for another reason. You might need to be afraid for the future of good government. I’m not talking about if Obama were to get re-elected. I’m talking about something closer to home; a local race.

“A compassionate government keeps faith with the trust of the people and cherishes the future of their children.”

– Lyndon B. Johnson

When I was a kid, my family would watch black and white horror movies together on Halloween. During commercials, my parents would exchange tales of ghosts and, supposedly, occult occurrences my relatives had witnessed over the generations.

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

– Matthew 5:16

In 1971, when my husband’s military assignment changed from Vietnam to Fort Gordon, our reunited family was about to move into our first-ever newly built home. I had been to Georgia a few months earlier, found a nearly completed house in the Idylwilde Subdivision in Evans, and had the pleasure of making all the interior décor decisions myself. That was another first for me.

With all of the attention that has been focused on the constitutional amendment dealing with the creation of state charter schools, many voters may not be aware that there is an “Amendment 2” on the ballot as well.

If approved by the voters, the amendment would allow state agencies to sign multi-year leases to rent property for government offices and related facilities. Currently, the state cannot sign an agreement to lease property for more than a year at a time.